How to Kill William Carter
by Dorobouhime
Summary: A team of investigators joined by fate, travel from place to place in an effort to unravel the mystery that ties them all together and to find the one responsible for it all.
"I'm standing on the edge of a great precipice, It's unlike any cliff that exists around here, I know this because I can see the train glittering in the morning sun, when it's usually covered by the trees. Really, it didn't even look like the one that comes through here, but I think, 'oh it must, be the 7:00am commuter express.'

The sky nothing but clear, but something in the air trembles, the scent of something sharp and rotten comes in on the breeze. I feel a presence behind me and so I turn away from the view. Suddenly I'm falling backward, and I look up to see that something dark has blotted out the sun's light.

I'm no longer far away after that. I'm right there, down by the tracks themselves and I recognize the place for real this time. I'm at the depot, and the train is clattering past me at full speed, but the stench is stronger now and I know It's coming.

I try to close my eyes but I can still hear giant claws tearing into the the screech of ripping metal, the tracks are uprooted, and with them the derailed engine curls off into the forest, followed by the cacophony of the remaining cars colliding with one another.

At the last moment I look up again. For some reason I can't see anything more than a great mass of darkness. It roars."

Wendy looked up from her feet to meet three blank stares. Well, two blank stares and the back of someone's sleeping head. Or maybe ten, counting Webber.

"That's all there was." She said. Their reaction left much to be desired..

"...And you are positive that it isn't some kind of nightmare?"

"I _don't_ have nightmares." At least not anymore.

The scrutiny of others was making her feel self conscious. It's not like she wanted to tell these freaks about the disaster to come; but for all her lack of social inclination, she really needed people to do things for her. And this was something that had to be done, she could feel that familiar pull in the back of her mind. This was a call from someone important.

"Wow! That sounds really scary!" Hearing Webber's dorky, pre-pubescent voice coming out of that disgusting, gross spider face was still a bit of a trip, even worse that now it sounded overlaid with something deep, gravelly and distinctly inhuman. Though there was something about the new version of her classmate that was about 50% more pathetic and hilarious. She appreciated that. "Of course everyone will help you! Right?" He looked around the room with eight blackened, inhuman eyes shining with naivete.

"Those are fine sentiments, but If you aren't sure what the cause is, what makes you think that we would have any capacity to fix it?" Wilson was crouched over the dingy table, he had gone from staring at her blankly to rifling through paper distractedly. "Despite the fact that you may find us to be more…" he searched for the word with an uncomfortable expression on his face, "... _accepting_ of certain unusual circumstances, doesn't mean that we have any power to effect something like that. I _study_ the paranormal, my record for keeping it in check is- "

"-speak for yourself, loser..." mumbled the ratty old couch across the room. The pile of towels and blankets moved to reveal a tousled head of black hair.

"Oh, so you are listening, if you care to join the conversation, you can extricate yourself from that nest you've made and eat dinner." Wilson didn't look away from the battered laptop in front of him.

"We saved you like 10 dino-nuggets!" Webber excitedly hopped up from the place that he sat, and ran over to grab a plate of leftovers that had indeed been set aside earlier for the girl while she slept. It seemed that she had been out since the day before.

"Whoa, is that you, kid? You have a spiderface now? What did I miss?"

"A lot of stuff! But it's okay because we don't actually remember. We were pretty freaked out about it last night, but now, we think it's kinda awesome and we are learning to accept the changes gradually!" he smiled broadly, obviously parroting someone else's words, " Also…", he zipped up the hood of that ridiculous hoodie he'd always worn, the red and blue cloth of it covered his face but the weird little leg bits on his neck still moved around to create an entirely disconcerting effect. "-We're ACTUAL spiderman now."

"Good for you." Willow grabbed a cold stegosaurus from the plate, "I guess?"

"Oh wait! We can put it in the microwa-"

"No need." There was a slight sizzle in her fingertips, and she shoved the whole thing in her mouth. She grinned, satisfied with her performance.

"Awesome! Can you do that again!? Does it taste different than in the microwave?"

"Uh, obviously- but back off my food, spiderkid."

Wendy rolled her eyes at the absurdity. She turned her attention back to the person whom she sensed might actually contribute something of value to the situation. He was still messing around with things on his desk. He momentarily glanced at Webber and Willow with another unreadable expression on his face. Though she did not actually know the nature of the relationship between her seventh-grade chemistry instructor and the thin-faced young woman who was presently wasting her pyrokinetic powers to roast room temperature psuedo-chicken, she thought it was rather altruistic of them to let Webber hide at their place (even if it was because she was blackmailing them). The police were still looking for him and the "grizzly bear" that had mauled his grandparents to death. It was very likely that they would not appreciate what they found now, though she supposed it was a miracle that he was still alive, even changed as he was.

She cleared her throat loudly, trying to draw attention back to the issue at hand.

"Hi... Wendy?" Willow turned and looked at her casually, still chewing.

"Oh, don't mind me." Wendy smiled, "You are probably very hungry, I'm sure making violent attempts on my life takes a great deal of energy."

"Yup..." Willow looked back at her impassively. Her gaze made it clear there was no way that she would be apologizing, no matter how objectively wrong her actions had been yesterday. Wendy appreciated this callousness and they shared a moment of begrudging respect.

"How is that plan going by the way?"

"Meeehhh", She shrugged and waved dismissively. "I'm kinda over it."

"Cool."

"-But enough about that. What about this horrifying disaster vision were you talking about? I was mostly just awakened at the end by Wilson whining about how helpless and squishy he is."

"I did not-"

"-It's okay, you don't have to ask," She shot him a bold wink and his frown just grew a bit deeper, "I'll take care of this."

"Interesting sentiment, considering you were not asked to participate." he mumbled, gingerly pulling a large, dusty book from the exact middle of a stack.

"Sure I was!" at this their attention turned back to Wendy, who returned their gazes with vague disinterest. "Right?"

"I don't care either way, but at this rate, all of you have blood on your hands for wasting my time." She sighed heavily. Once again, it looked like it would be up to her to try and figure all this out on her own.

"Wendy, I'm sorry that I can't give you more useful advice." He had cleared the papers off of his desk now and was fiddling with something on his laptop, the large book had been flung open on a nearby chair. "Maybe if you check back tomorrow there will be more concrete information?"

"Oh yes, the news reports of some horrible catastrophe."

"Hopefully, nothing so out of hand." He smiled apologetically looking at her directly for a short moment, though he still seemed a bit distracted.

"I guess I'll go home then." Wendy shrugged, turning for the door. It wasn't her problem if no one wanted to help her. She could use some sleep anyway.

"Oh!-wait! Can we come too? It's after dark, and it could be really dangerous out there! You shouldn't be alone!" Webber was standing by the door before she had taken another step. Unholy spiderbeast or not, it could be good to have someone to use as cannon fodder. Also it would have been a lot more trouble to make him go away.

"-Yeah..." Wendy was a little more surprised when Willow stretched to her feet, "It really is a shame we can't be more helpful, but given the circumstances I think it would be a good idea to make sure that you two get home safely." she was pulling on her jacket, " You'd be surprised, but there are some genuinely crazy people out there." She nodded earnestly, but the glint in her eye indicated that the irony of her own statement had not gone unnoticed.

"You don't say…" Wendy stifled a smirk. This woman was amusing, and now that she wasn't on the receiving end of Willow's powers, she figured It could be good to have a cannon hanging around as well.

"Hey, um... We think you might have missed the turn back there. Wendy's house is on Birch lane right? We remember because-"

"Get your head out of your ass, Webber." Wendy said glaring behind to the cramped backseat of the beat up '73 pinto, "We're driving to the train tracks to investigate."

"What!? Really?"

"Obviously."

"Okay but...Ms. Willow...Aren't you driving a bit fast?" His voice cracked slightly, sounding suddenly small from the back seat.

"Nahh, it's too dark to see the speed limit anyway," Willow said as the tires squealed around a turn.

"Um, Does Mister Higgsbury know that you're driving his car?"

"pfft, Nope!" She chuckled and Webber grew very silent, if his skin hadn't been hidden under all of that spider, it would have probably been quite pale.

"It's what he gets for leaving his keys on the coffee table," Wendy said lightly.

"Nice grab, by the way."

"Thank you for not hesitating to use them."

"Heh, no problem-Though, I feel like mention in his defense, he will probably have tons of information for you by tomorrow. He was already well on his way while you were talking."

"-what? He was barely listening."

"Nah, he was, he just doesn't want to get your hopes up if he's wrong. He was probably weeping secret tears of maniacal joy. This is the weirdest thing since, well, _me_. Or I guess spiderkid. Spiderkid is clearly weirder than me. How did that happen by the way?"

"It's probably not something we should discuss right now."

"Okay…" Willow shrugged. She didn't care enough to pry further.

"-So maybe…"Webber piped up from the back," We were thinking that Mr. Higgsbury might actually know that you have his car and this _isn't_ stealing? Maybe? Because he was trying to find the monster from Wendy's-"

"-Nice try kid, but this excursion is entirely clandestine!" Willow interjected, brightly. "He is gonna be _livid_." She giggled as if this was an added bonus. " But don't worry, I'll take responsibility."

Wendy was considering her response when she felt the car come to an abrupt halt. Webber hissed loudly in surprise.

"Hey look, we're here!"

...

Webber stepped from the car with shaking legs. He could smell the oil and coal dust and rusted steel. Boy, it sure was great to be out at night like this. He definitely loved the dark. Or did he despise it? No, no Wendy was here, everything was just fine. Nighttime was good; He had liked it before this, so that wouldn't change right _?_ He wondered idly what lurked out in the underbrush. It might be interesting to actually get a good look at one of… his own kind? He wasn't sure if that was exactly the designation, but felt a slight longing nonetheless.

"It's so dark!"

Webber flinched as a surge of heat and light knocked him out of his reverie. He squinted at Willow who had conjured a ball of flame in her palm.

"How discreet." Wendy muttered, "I'm sure that won't alert anything problematic to our location."

"Believe me, kid," She shivered and something fearful flashed over her expression for a moment, "It's way better than the dark."

Webber hissed quietly and rubbed his eyes for a moment, he wasn't used to being so sensitive.

If Willow noticed that the fire was bothering him, she didn't seem to care.

"So, is this the place from your dream?"

"More or less." Wendy's hands were shoved deep in her pockets as she picked her way over the gravel and scrap metal. She looked small against the rusting hulks of defunct engines and containers. She pointed to the main track that lead from Jury Ridge (pop. 500) to civilization. "It was this track here."

"Hmm, I see. Willow absent-mindedly kicked the sturdy rail with a steel toed boot, kneeling to get a better look, "Seems like It'd take something huge to rip these from the ground. Also, Is it just me or does it look like this is the only one that actually gets any upkeep?"

"Yes, because-"

Oh! He knew about this!

"-Well of course!" Webber blinked as his eyes grew accustomed to the flickering light, he ran ahead perking up at the opportunity to share some local flavor, "This was the shipping depot back when Jury Ridge was still a mining town, but it that hasn't been used for like two hundred years!-"

"Forty." Wendy was hanging back for some reason, probably just salty that she hadn't been fast enough to tell the story first. When he met her eyes she regarded Webber with a bit of concern. That was weird.

"Aww yeah…But it's still so spooky!" They had always told stories about the old depot being haunted, this somehow seemed less plausible given the place's more recent age, but was still fun to imagine.

"That's great I guess." Willow was already wandering around, the cheery light bobbed from one deteriorated shell of metal to the next, her voice echoing in an otherworldly way, "Hey- Is there some other train that runs through here?" She asked from far away.

The two children trotted up to where she stood, at the edge of the lot. Someone had cleared enough foliage to create a tunnel into the forest. Leading down into it- it's newly greased rails glinting dully- was one of the old mining tracks.

"That is.. new?" Wendy said as she stared up at the shadowy maw, "And it certainly doesn't go to anywhere that I know of."

"And what the heck is this?" Willow knelt, picking up handful of something off the ground, "Straw?"

"I guess we could go in to investigate?" Webber said with a shrug.

"So then you are volunteering?" Wendy replied a bit sharply.

"N-not exactly!" Webber gulped, suddenly feeling a flash of fear, " We mean, it might be easier for everyone if we come back in daylight don't you think?"

"I second that." Willow said looking at the straw with knitted brows, "There's weird fur mixed in with this too. Maybe we should check with Wilson. He might have some insight. Also, I am gonna be super mad if we walk for like, a zillion miles in the dark and just find out that some boring but inexplicably rich farmer repurposed these rails to ship cows or something.".

"Fair enough." Wendy replied, she sighed slightly, was she relieved? "We should head back then, shouldn't we?"

"Yeah, though let me take my time, this place is neat."

"Fine, but I'm going to the car." Wendy snapped, but her tone was ignored.

Webber kept pace with Wendy as she walked out into the shadows back towards the parking lot. Though he didn't feel ready to leave, he felt like he was missing something. Why?

Willow's light was no longer visible, he had lost track of her a few steps back and he was sure that she'd catch up-

"HELLO CHILDREN!" a face wreathed in lurid flame popped out from behind the corner.

"HHISSsssSSS!" Webber flinched at the childish attempt to startle him, falling backward with a great deal of flailing.

"Ahahahaha!" He could hear Willow's divisive laughter from his place on the ground, almost as soon as it reached his ears his cheeks felt hot with embarrassment.

"Very mature. Maybe you should give us wedgies and steal our lunch money while you're at it?" Wendy stood above him, unfazed.

"Really?- Like you didn't expect me to do that!?"

"Obviously he didn't." He heard Wendy say. He began to pick himself, momentarily tuning out the frivolous conversations above him. He hadn't been able to see it before, but on the ground, not more than three feet in front of him, something glinting in the echoes of Willow's firelight had grabbed his attention.

The crawling motion that it took him over to it came strangely easily. When his fingers closed around the cold piece of metal a very particular feeling came over him. He sat up to a crouch, examining it carefully, his heart beat a little faster as foggy memories started coalesce when he laid eyes on it.

It was a girl's hairpin, in surprisingly good condition. Silver and red enamel twisted into the bright design of a five-petaled flower.

He glanced furtively up at Wendy where she continued to bicker with Willow. Had he knocked it out of her hair by accident?- No, this one was configured differently, so that it was best worn on the opposite side of the head as Wendy's. Suddenly Webber felt full of life, a flash of his old self returned. He remembered what they were missing, how could he have forgotten? He lept to his feet, slipping the accessory into his pocket.

"Hey! Ms. Willow! Wanna see something awesome!?" His sharp teeth spread into a sunny grin.

"Huh? Sure. What?"

"Our hideout! Since Wendy and I were kids! Come on, I'll show you!" He grabbed her arm in excitement and ran past his classmate father into the depot. "I can't believe I didn't show you sooner!"

"Where are you going? Webber no-" Wendy ran after them, concern creeping into her voice.

The rusty hinges of the door were a little harder stuck than they had been the last time he'd been here, but his fingers just curled into the cracks with far more ease. The deteriorated hinges made an ugly sound revealing the darkened container. Though soon it too, was illuminated.

"Wow!... It's a lot of random junk?" Willow let the kid drag her along, reacting with indulgent bemusement, Wendy had yet to catch up.

"Hey no-! This is awesome, important stuff!" Webber was scampering through the container, looking around with wide-eyed nostalgia, "This," he gestured with pride at the dusty container, "Was the vault of the famous mystery trio!"

"Nice mural." Willow tilted her head slightly as she laid eyes on a childishly painted picture of three figures on the back wall. "Very artistic. How old were you guys?

"We painted it in third grade!-The guy with the glasses is me- We know, we look way cooler now right? And of course the one on the left is Wendy, you can tell because she looks cranky, and of course, they may look the same but the one on the right is-"

" _Webber._ What do you think you're doing?" Wendy stood in the doorway, her face in shadow.

"Hey come on! Ms. Willow is nice! Don't you want to show her too?"

A chill filled the air as she stood there silently.

"This place was really fun, why don't we come here anymore?!" Webber was looking around with a near-frantic look on his face, he spied something that seemed to give him an idea. He picked it up, other scraps clattering to the ground.

"See, look! It's WX-78, the cursed robot doll!" He brandished a small figurine with rusted joints, "Don't you remember?- It would turn on even though the batteries had been dead for weeks and walk around at exactly 3:33am. So we decided that we had to keep a watch- For science right?" He spoke quickly, with a tone of nostalgic excitement, but his eyes never left Wendy's downturned face, his now gnarled fingers clenched tightly, "Mostly because you two didn't believe me right? I was like, 'It's really cursed you guys!", Haha, we brought it out here to investigate but you both fell asleep at like 11- haha and you call me a baby right?... But anyway 3:33 came along and I was the only one awake and then it started moving around again, it clattered toward us and I was trying to wake you guys up and it was really scary but- do you remember what happened? What Abigail said in her sleep-"

"-Shut up, Webber."

"N-No, it's a great story okay-" His laughter was a little bit forced as he fought to share the memory. His newly rearranged senses somehow muddling the exact words it took to explain it. There was something else about it, something that he knew he should be more wary of, something he knew should hurt more. Just like those recent images of brutality and the taste of blood that he found both horrifying and natural to his nature. People he loved were gone now, but he couldn't fathom it for some reason. "What's the big deal Wendy?"

"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up, _now."_ Her voice was deadly quiet.

Webber took a breath to speak, but he faltered as a warm hand gripped his shoulder.

"Hey, Spiderkid." he blinked again Willow was standing between the two of them, a look of slight concern on her face, "You know, this seems really… nice, but I don't think it really has much to do with the matter at hand… Right Wendy?"

Wendy said nothing as she turned and walked back to the car.

…

Wilson had never really believed in premonitions. In his years studying the plethora of mysterious phenomena that this world had to offer, he had never once found a way to prove the viability of a premonition. They were always foggy, indistinct and frankly, predicted things that were all too common in this world; destruction, misery, and death. Though he had found intriguing evidence to support a number of other varieties of supernatural phenomena, true images of the future remained in the realm of charlatans, as far as hard evidence was concerned.

Even still, this was an extremely interesting development.

Wendy Carter was the reason that they found themselves in this small town, her presence had been what that had originally made him seek employment as a 7th grade chemistry teacher at Jury Ridge Junior High School. It was a tenuous lead, but she was the only known blood relation of the person they were looking for and anything was better than just wandering around and waiting for him to act first. Wilson had thought it might be advantageous to observe her and see if over time they could see if she knew anything.

Unfortunately, Willow had thought of an alternate plan without his knowledge. She had attempted to kidnap the girl and ransom her.

There were a few reasons that he wasn't surprised this plan had failed; the weather that day had been forecasting major rainstorms (being wet severely hindered Willow's powers) and Willow herself was not nearly cruel enough to cause harm to another human being. Also, hostages only brought out people that had conscience and the answer to whether their quarry was still in possession of his, was a very probable no.

In the end, he had found Willow sobbing in a back alley, soaked to the skin and willing to admit, for the first time, that her idea had not been the best. He didn't blame her for her actions and though he was genuinely curious, had yet to ask exactly what went on that afternoon. She had a lot more to be bitter about than he did. A tarnished reputation and hurt pride was nothing compared to being locked away for most of your natural life. Willow was just figuring out how to deal with a world that she'd only ever seen on a screen, she deserved some patience.

That day she had made it clear that she wouldn't be trying that stunt again. Wilson had helped her back to the apartment they shared at the edge of town, made sure she was stabilized, and soon she'd fallen asleep. At the time he had been concerned, but also a little relieved at the development. Having to skip town was a pain, but at least he wouldn't have to grade the huge stack of unit 4 tests he'd been putting off.

However, events had taken an even stranger turn that evening. Wilson had just about finished gathering up what they needed to leave, just the basics (clothes, cash, tent, chemistry set, ten volumes of his yet to be published memoir, a collection of rare books and artifacts, his favorite desk chair, that really cute owl figurine, just a few bottles of hair gel, his collection of turn of the century straight razors, oh and who could forget the one man band), when there was a frantic knock at the door. He almost hadn't opened it because of the strange noises he heard coming from beyond, and he had almost closed it when he saw the horrifying creature on the other side.

But the creature had waved at him politely, and the one who had brought it there? Wendy Carter.

"He wanted to see you." she had said with blank eyes, daring him to flinch at the horrifying being that she supported with one shoulder. "Thinks you can help him."

"How interesting." Wilson had responded, wary but unwilling to show fear, "Why don't you come inside?"

The humanoid arachnid turned out to be what was left of another one of Wilson's students: Webber from 1st period, the same class as Wendy. He didn't know much about the two kids but he guessed they were close. What surprised Wilson most was how much Webber seemed to have figured out about his particular aptitude with the power of observation. Maybe he shouldn't have been reading all of those bulky, leatherbound, arcane texts while he made his class watch educational videos. (Damn you, Bill Nye-You had one job!)

Unfortunately, though he had been one of the brightest students before, Webber was incoherent now. One moment it seemed his personality was fully intact, and the next he could barely remember his own name. Wendy said that the scene at his house was grisly, but he didn't seem to mourn in the least for the loving caregivers he had lost, though at times he would talk about them like they were just around the corner.

The whole situation chilled him to his core. He almost felt guilty about how excited he was to study it.

Wendy had left almost immediately to go home that night, looking between him and the person sleeping on the couch, connecting the dots with a surprising amount of indifference. Even at that time, she had not seemed threatened by Willow as much as mildly amused.

"I wouldn't run off just yet," she had gestured to his clear attempts at packing, "I don't plan on telling anyone." she had smiled coldly at Willow's sleeping form, "So long as you keep Webber

safe."

The way she had said it it had certainly sounded like blackmail, and Wilson had been rather unsettled to say the least, but given the circumstances, he had turned his attention to Webber. Several dozen psychological evaluations and 2 bags of dinosaur chicken nuggets later, he seemed mentally stable enough to interact with others in the context of the present moment. Whether this condition was reversible, deteriorating, or stable would take time to understand.

However, this visit from Ms. Carter was different. He got the sense that she was genuinely asking for their help. As she relayed through gritted teeth the images of dark, clawed destruction, there was a quality to her manner that he had not seen before: embarassment. She was entirely mortified, and maybe just a bit fearful. This was not some charlatan who desired their attention, and if she wished to manipulate them, she already had plenty of blackmail material.

That being said, he thought it best to moderate her expectations. Though he was an exceptionally talented scientist, the best actually, it was probably smartest to to be honest about his significantly lower skill at keeping the forces of the paranormal in check.

He had first glanced at his homepage, a local news website, simply to avoid eye contact. The intense look in that child's eyes that was not for the faint of heart.

He was not comfortable being a disappointment to someone that terrifying, and was glad when Willow roused from day long hibernation and drew attention to herself. She seemed instantly engrossed in the situation, though sorely lacking in circumstantial knowledge. As usual, it worried him, but her passion for life was an endearing quality. He didn't really appreciate being called "helpless and squishy", though. Sure, he didn't brazenly put himself in physical danger or have the capacity to catch things on fire with his mind, but one with such well-toned wit could never be called helpless (little bit scrawny maybe, but he knew that just enhanced his byron-esque good looks.).

"Unexplained Deforestation Leaves Local Park Rangers Scratching Their Beards."

The headline was sandwiched between a fluff piece about a local ice cream man, and a hard hitting editorial about snakes being found in local campground outhouse, but what caught Wilson's attention was the picture attached: an old growth pine ripped up by the roots.

Interesting. He clicked on it.

The poorly written article primarily detailed the experience of a young park ranger named Billy Wallingford, who was trying to draw attention to what he thought was some kind of government conspiracy leading to illegal deforestation. Wilson thought the article itself seemed unreliable, but it contained extensive pictures of what they claimed was an example of this unexplained clearcut a few miles outside of town. The trees were certainly down, but anyone with a brain could tell from the photos that it's wasn't due to any kind of blade. Actually, he was surprised that no one else had taken notice of the clear claw marks that adorned each one of the felled trunks. Maybe it was because they were far larger than any creature indigenous to the area. Definite proof it was not, but a reason to keep looking, indeed it was.

Could it be some kind of demonic force? That wouldn't surprise him terribly much given what had already happened so far, but usually demons prayed upon an individual or group of individuals and they usually had some kind of theme. Though in some cases they might gain enough power to cause damage like this, there would be other, much greater, signs of decay in the community. No, he the evidence pointed to this being some kind of flesh and blood creature. He wasn't much of a cryptozoologist, but at the least he could just cross reference what other strange creatures that the area might be known for…

He had a number of tabs open. Sasquatch? Batsquach? Ridiculous, but it wouldn't hurt to look into the possibilities. Wait- wasn't there something in that in that big old tome he picked up at the farmer's bazaar.. Hah- try calling his discretionary purchases useless _now_ , Willow. Was her gaudy leather jacket about to crack a mysterious case wide freaking open? He thought not.

...

"Aha! Check this out!" Willow exclaimed as she stood in the doorway. Crumpled paper swirled up in little circles, caught by the sudden influx of night air. She slammed the handful of straw and animal hair down on the table triumphantly, "Super suspicious straw and stuff from a super suspicious mystery railroad line."

Leaning forward, she smiled over the piles of dusty books and scribbled notepads. He returned her smile with a look of wasn't too different from his normal facial expression, except the little crease between his furrowed brows was about thirty percent more distinct. Willow thought he looked cute when he was dismayed. She pretty much always thought that.

"So it is…" Wilson regarded the fistful of damp fodder the same way one might regard a dead mouse brought in by a beloved cat. "And you have thrown it on my desk, why?"

"Because it's evidence!" Willow rolled her eyes slightly, manipulating the small pile to display it better, "See, there's weird super-long animal hair mixed in too. I mean, it seems pretty suspicious if you ask me, especially with the new set of tracks and all."

"Tracks?"

Wendy and Webber entered the apartment much more slowly, giving the adults wide-eyed stares. Well, Webber was doing that. Wendy just kind of stood there with her arms crossed. That girl knew how to keep up a sullen silence, impressive.

"I thought… you were walking them home?" Wilson raised an eyebrow, not quite looking mad anymore so much like he was resigned to hear the explanation for this "unexpected" development. He wore this expression often.

"Webber did it." Wendy said.

"Did wha-" Webber started with injured incredulity.

"-Stole your keys so Willow could drive us to the old train depot." The golden haired demon spoke over him with a calculated coolness that made the hair on the back of everyone's neck stand up. Boy, whatever Spiderkid had been trying to show her back there must have touched a nerve.

Wilson looked from Wendy to Webber and then back to Willow anxiously. She shook her head very slightly, imploring him not to ask.

He returned her nod slowly, the considerate look on his face implying that he knew Webber was probably not responsible for the theft of his keys and that everyone was entitled to their secrets and… oh yup… now he was considering that last part, she took a few steps back as the gears fell into place.

"-You drove!?" he squeaked as his full attention was back on Willow with a different sort of anxiety.

"It was fine." Willow mumbled, looking away awkwardly, "You don't have to get so worried, I mean, you already taught me how to drive right?"

"Once. I showed you how to operate a vehicle _once."_ The eyebrow crease was at like eighty percent visibility now.

"I guess, I'm like," she shrugged, still not meeting his eyes, "a mechanical genius or something," she hoped he wouldn't notice the large scratch that was now on the left bumper, or the way that their neighbor's mailbox kind-of sat at an odd angle now, "'cause it was totally fine."

"I specifically asked you not to drive alone."

"Don't worry Mr. Higgsbury!" Webber piped up in her defense, "She wasn't alone! She was with us!" He smiled, but his face fell when Wilson turned another shade of pale and slumped in his seat.

"Please…" he took a deep breath and rubbed his forehead between his thumb and middle finger, "Never do that again."

Though her first impulse was to talk back, the words caught in her throat. He looked so worried. She had been so excited to investigate, to get the balling rolling on the next adventure, that she had once again been totally reckless. She didn't like to admit when she was wrong, but he was the closest thing to, well, _anything_ that she had _._

She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder,

"I'm sorry." Though he bristled at the physical contact she maintained it, hoping that maybe it could communicate her feelings in a way that words could not. "I won't do it again."

He didn't say anything but when he finally turned to look at her, he had a much softer look in his eyes. Gingerly, he took her hand off of his shoulder, color rushed to her cheeks as for a moment, he clasped her hand in both of his. His skin was cool and soft.

The next moment he was gently placing her hand on the table next to him. As always, she didn't know how to feel. Yes, he was most certainly putting her off, but the way he did it was always so smooth.

."Thank you, Willow."

"Uhh yeah…" she awkwardly blundered into words, "Sure, anytime…" then trailed off into awkward silence.

"-Forgive me for interrupting the soap opera," Wendy did not sound even a little repentant, "but we are wasting time again."

"Indeed we are. Now if I could just find..." Wilson was soon rummaging through drawers a bit more hurriedly than he'd moved in a while. Willow wanted to pat herself on the back, as snippy as he might have been about the mess, Wilson didn't like studying for hours on end any more than she did. It was the act of observing and experimentation where he was really in his element.

"-A microscope!" he pulled out a clunky gray monstrosity that had "Property of JRJH #05" scrawled on it in sharpie.

Everyone waited for what felt like forever as Wilson set it up. Meticulously adjusting the focus, selecting specimens and placing them on wet mounts, all the while mumbling to himself over small victories and setbacks though soon he settled into focused the minutes ticked by, it got harder to sit in still. If someone didn't say something soon she was going to-

"-I'm not sure how say this," Willson stepped away from the microscope with an intense look on his face, the very edge of his mouth curled up in the slightest whisper of a smile, "but I'm extremely familiar with this beast."

 _And there we must stop for today. Yeah I know it's super abrupt and pretty much totally unsatisfying, but here we go. The fanfiction you just read was not simply the product of my over active (and, frankly, over-shippy) imagination, but created entirely by playing a solitaire game of Monster of the Week. For those of you who might not be familiar, MOTW is a super fun role-play game based somewhat on the universes' of various supernatural mystery shows (Supernatual, X-files, Buffy, ect) where you play as monster hunters. I though that it would be super fun to make a Don't Starve AU within the paradigm of the game! I rolled dice for all the appropriate character interactions and decisions and each of the characters was actually built with the character skins from the game (Wilson is The Expert, Willow is The Spellslinger, Wendy is The Spooky, and ironically enough, Webber is The Mundane). I surprised me how well they fit, but Wilson turned out a little crankier than I expected, but I just chalk it up to there not being enough science for him to do right now (something I will make every effort to include in the future)._

 _Anyway! Though I write this by myself (because I have no friends who are as obsessed with Don't Starve as I) It feels sort-of wrong to make every plot decision by yourself in what is supposed to be a role-playing game. SO! If you have read this far, and maybe you feel like reading some more, I implore you to send me an ask to let me know the next thing they should do._

 _A)Go talk to the Ranger from the Article._

 _B)Follow the Mysterious Train Tracks_

 _C)Ask around town. (Hey, maybe they'll find some other important info!)_

Thanks for reading this far!

Much love,

The MC

Also! this fic is also posted on tumblr, it not different there, it just has shitty illustrations. trialsandstarvations. tumblr


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